Legends
by Marphisa
Summary: This is a rewritten, hopefully better, version of Bradamante. Remember the legendary lady knights that inspired Alanna? This is the story of one of those legends.
1. The Package

A/N: I'm back, and I'm rewriting Bradamante

A/N: I'm back, and I'm rewriting _Bradamante_.

Faithful readers will notice, I hope, that I'm doing my best to work the kinks out of the story I've already written. I'm working on the plot, fleshing things out and fixing the problems my reviewers pointed out.

I should tell you that I have not read any of Ms. Pierce's books since the Trickster series. I do know she has written a series that is set several hundred years before the Lioness Quartet, which was when I was going to place this story. Consider this a story then about Tortall's ancient past: the true story behind what are only known as legends in Alanna, Daine, and Kel's times.

As always, reviews, constructive criticism, and whatnot are welcomed. Flames—well, I come from a long line of pyromaniacs.

By the by, you'll have to bear with me on the title. I'm thinking it's just temporary.

Enjoy the ride!

Chapter 1: The Package

Keladry of Mindelin, Lady Knight, and newly made Knight Commander of the town of New Hope, had received a package. It was small, roughly half again as long as Kel's hand and twice as wide. It was only as thick as two of her fingers together. Wrapped in a length of rough oilcloth that had definitely seen much time on the road, the package hardly seemed important, which was probably why it had been sitting untouched on Kel's desk for two weeks.

Understandably, Kel was busy. New Hope was still a work in progress. While much had been done to make it livable for the residents, there was still much more work to be done.

Kel knew the package had been sent by her newly married friend Neal. She also knew it was not official business, which was why she had not opened it yet.

This particular evening, Kel stumbled into her room physically exhausted. She had spent most of the day helping build a stable across town. When she wasn't doing that, she was drilling the men assigned to her command and all willing civilians with weapons and in unarmed combat.

Put simply, Kel was tired.

After cleaning and putting away her weapons, Kel changed for bed. Chuckling quietly, she nudged Jump off her pillow before lying down. With a final thought to what needed to be done tomorrow, Kel rolled over to sleep. After several minutes she rolled over yet again. After several minutes of tossing and turning, Kel left her bed. Her body was exhausted, but her mind was still active.

"Might as well have a look at Neal's package," she mumbled after a few minutes of pacing by her bed. Ordinarily, she would have retrieved her glaive from its place in the corner and done a few pattern dances, hoping to clear her mind. Curiosity, though, was getting the better of Kel; and she decided this would be the perfect time to satisfy her curiosity.

Kel shuffled down the steps to her office, holding a candle. This building was set up much the same way her administrative quarters had been in Haven. Her office was only a flight of stairs and a short hallway from her room. In only a few minutes, Kel had retrieved her package and was settled at her desk to open it.

Kel reached for her belt knife to cut the string holding the package before she realized she was only wearing a sleep shirt. Rolling her eyes at her own thoughtlessness, Kel grabbed her package and trudged back upstairs. Comfortably settled on her bed, belt knife in hand, Kel was finally ready to open her package.

She cut the string away and pulled the rough oilcloth away from a small leather-bound book.

"Curious," she mumbled, examining the outside of the book. "There's no title."

As Kel turned the little book over in her hands, a piece of parchment fell from the folds of the book. Upon closer inspection, Kel saw the parchment was actually a sealed envelope with her name on it. Kel needed only a glance at the flowery scrawl that graced the envelope to know that this also was from Neal.

Kel quickly opened it and extracted several pages of a letter.

_Kel,_

_I was nosing around the library at Trebond last Midwinter when I found something extremely interesting. Not an unusual feat for me, I know. My discovery was a small book, handwritten in Old Tortallan._

_Kel, you don't know how difficult it is to find books that old in their original manuscripts. I must ashamedly admit my Old Tortallan is rather rusty, and I had a hard time determining exactly what I was looking at. The book and the ink used to write it had been spelled against age and wear, so there was no excuse for my difficulty._

_I do not have words for how surprised I was when I at last deciphered the opening words. Having realized what I was reading, I bolted from the library, clutching my prize. With Alanna's permission, I sent the book to the palace historians with a request that it be translated._

_I hope you appreciate what kind of bribe I had to pay to get that book translated and two manuscripts made in the time I did._

_Now, I know you Kel. You haven't looked at the book yet; but you would've hit me already, demanding I tell you, if I were telling you this in person. Ah, the pen is indeed mightier than the sword (or fist). _

_Before I lose your attention completely, let me tell you exactly what you hold in your hand. Kel, I found the journal of Bradamant of Whitethorn, written during the Great War. What you have I a translation of that very same journal. I though you might like to read about another famous lady knight. (You _are_ famous, whether you want to believe it or not.)_

_I sent the other manuscript to Alanna. I thought she'd enjoy it as much as you would. Of course, the original does belong to her too. I'm having a copy made for my library and one for the palace library._

_With that brief introduction ringing in your ears, I'll leave you to read Bradamant's journal._

_Enjoy your present, Kel._

_Ever your faithful friend, _

_Sir Neal of Queenscove_

Kel could hardly believe her eyes. Bradamant of Whitethorn was a legend! Of course, Neal, scholarly bookworm that he was, would find such a thing.

'I wonder why Bradamant's journal would be in Trebond's library. I would think Lady Alanna would know about it; but, apparently, she didn't. I bet she'll be just as surprised as I was,' Kel thought.

As the realization of just what she held sank in, Kel jumped up, giddy almost with amazement.

"The very journal of Bradamant of Whitethorn," Kel said aloud.

Without a thought to the sleep she should have been getting, Kel lit another candle and settled herself on her bed to read Neal's wonderful gift.

'I'll have to get him something special for Midwinter this year,' she thought as she opened the front cover of the book.


	2. Entry One

Chapter 2:

Chapter 2: Entry One

Written in the very hand of Bradamant of Whitethorn: thus read the first line.

I have been called to service. King Jonathan I has called on all able-bodied knights of the realm to defend our land. The filthy Scanrans to the north have joined with Tusaine in the east to attack our newly formed Tortall. They think to push our borders back, stealing our land for themselves.

We will not let them, though. Tortall may only have been formed two generations ago; but King Jonathan is a good leader, unyielding and ruthless when he has to be, compassionate and understanding when he can be. He has managed to unite Tortall's various factions and clans more solidly than his father or grandfather were able to. Better him than me; Mithros knows I know nothing of statecraft or diplomacy. But I will help defend what our forefathers have built. This is infinitely better than the infighting and unceasing brutality our grandfathers witnessed before the Conte's began uniting the clans.

I have gathered all the warriors my father commands, leaving only a minimal force to guard Whitethorn. Our land is well away from Scanra and Tusaine; there should be little need of soldiers here. We will leave for Jonathan's stronghold tomorrow morning. The fools who have started this war will come to regret that they ever thought to raise a hand against Tortall!


	3. Accidents Happen

Chapter 3:

A/N: I looked at this story and wondered why I made chapters three and four separate. This is essentially those two chapters combined, with the author's note for chapter four included: I know this if off topic (And I usually find it annoying when authors get off topic in their notes.), but I feel like people would be missing out if I did not say this. Go read ConfusedKnight's story _Fallen_. It's amazing. That said, I will try to stay on topic for the rest of the chapter.

Chapter 3: Accidents Happen

Kel woke to sunlight streaming through her window as usual. She was momentarily disoriented, though, because something seemed to be sitting on her face. The lack of fur reassured her that it wasn't Jump. Grabbing the object resting placidly over her face, Kel realized it was the journal.

'I must have fallen asleep reading,' she thought. She carefully put the journal under the upper corner of her bed, knowing there it would be safe from Jump or any of the other animals that so freely roamed the compound.

While running through a few of her favorite pattern dances with her glaive, Kel thought about her responsibilities for the day. She knew she had to help with the stable that was being built. They were half done, and a few more days' work should have it completely finished. Once the stable was done, the main buildings for the running of the new town would be finished.

Kel decided she would take some time to herself when work on the stable wrapped up for the day. She would climb up to what she thought of as her hill and read more of the journal. The hill commanded a view of the countryside surrounding New Hope and of the town itself. It was within a bow's shot of the town's walls, and would serve as a lookout point in times of trouble. For now, while things were relatively peaceful, though, it was simply a pleasant place to get away from the activity of the growing town. With her plans firmly in mind, Kel marched out of her room and broke into a jog, heading for the stables.

Work on the stable was just beginning when Kel arrived on the scene. They were working to get the last supporting beam in place before raising the walls and moving to work on the inside of the stable. A pulley system had been set up, allowing groups on the ground to haul the heavy roof beams up so others on the roof could maneuver them into place. Kel had proved to be more useful helping to position and secure the beams rather than helping the ground crews lift them.

As work began for the day, Kel found herself once more atop one of the walls, straddling the support beam that topped it. Kel was suddenly and profusely grateful to Lord Wyldon for forcing her to conquer, or at least control, her fear of heights. She was currently perched on the beam that would support the center beam of the roof, which the ground crews were beginning to lift. Sitting on a beam, a good twenty-five feet above the ground, was still not Kel's idea of a good time; but he could do it now when she had to.

After much work from the ground crews, the final beam was high enough to be maneuvered into place with the direction of those perched atop the frame to guide it.

"More to the left, Owen," Kel shouted.

"Yours or mine?" Owen shouted back.

Glancing down to see they were indeed facing in different directions, Kel shouted back: "Mine."

As Owen and his team pulled the end of the beam to the left, Tobe, who was checking the other end, called out.

"It's slipping, L—"

That was all he was able to say before the beam did indeed slip off his side of the stable. The beam tilted abruptly up on Kel's end as the surprised ground crew lost its grip on the ropes supporting the other end of the beam.

"Get hold of that rope," shouted Owen as he and his crew struggled to hold the beam's entire weight.

"Watch out, Lady," one of the watching villagers called to Kel. She looked from the ground crew she had been watching to see the beam swinging toward her. With no time to get out of the way, Kel could only brace herself as the beam struck the wall on which she sat. Knocked from her perch, Kel grabbed at the hanging beam, trying to catch anything to ease her fall.

Kel was able to hook an arm over the lower end of the beam, stopping herself for a few moments. As her full bodyweight fell on her arm, though, she felt a tearing pain in her shoulder and lost her grip. She was only about ten feet from the ground and tried to twist herself around to land properly. When she landed, she tried to fall and roll as she had been taught; but she had never fallen from such a height before. There was a sickening crunch from her ankle as she collapsed on the ground.

"Well, Lady Knight, I've not seen someone quite this beaten up in a long time," said Edna, New Hope's healer, as she finished examining Kel's various injuries. "You've broken your left ankle. That's the bad news," she continued. "The good news you'll be wanting to hear is that you've only sprained your shoulder. I was afraid at first that you may have dislocated it.

"I've done what I could for your ankle, but you'll still have to be staying off it for at least a week," Edna explained.

"I understand," Kel yawned. Her eyes were already beginning to droop from the effects of the healing Edna had worked on her. "I can stay in my own room, though; can't I?" she asked.

"If you can get there without putting weight on that ankle. I'm fairly certain I can be finding you a crutch of some kind by tomorrow, but I have nothing you can use right now, Lady Knight."

With Owen's help, accompanied by his profuse apologies since he had been in charge of the ground crews, Kel made her way back to her room.

"Owen, for the last time, you are not responsible for my being hurt," Kel said. "It could have happened not matter who was in charge on the ground. It's not as if you pushed me off the wall on purpose." She paused for a moment. "Right?"

"Of course not, Kel," Owen gushed. "It really was an accident; I swear."

"I know, Owen. Thanks for helping me get here,"

"Of course, Kel. You're falling asleep where you sit: I'll go now. Get some rest and don't worry. I'll take care of things while you heal up," Owen assured her.

"Thanks again, Owen," Kel mumbled as her eyes slipped shut.

Kel woke sometime after noon: that much she could tell by the light coming through her window. She was groggy and still a little tired, but she was awake and ravenous. She knew to expect to feel bad after a healing, but she had never felt quite this bad after one. Of course, she had never had a healing quite this thorough before either. With a groan, she levered herself into a sitting position, which turned out to be a difficult thing to do with only one good arm and one good leg.

"Hello," she called. "Is anyone around?" When no one answered, Kel nudged Jump, who was dozing on the foot of her bed. "Jump, can you get somebody up here for me?" she asked.

Jump hopped off the bed, and trotted out of Kel's room only to return a few moments later with Edna in tow.

"I never will get used to these animals acting so much like people," she said as she entered. "I could only assume your pup here dragged me across town because you've woken up at last," she continued when she saw Kel sitting up in her bed.

"I just woke," Kel confirmed.

"And you're feeling like that beast of a horse you ride trampled you."

Kel grinned at the healer's choice of words and nodded her agreement.

"It's to be expected. You know your body better than I do; does this usually last long?"

"No, I just need some food and a little more sleep; and I should be fine," Kel answered.

"I'll send up something right away, and then you can get some more sleep," Edna agreed.

Edna's next visit, sometime around sunset, was much less pleasant to Kel's way of thinking. She was, by order of the healer and Owen as acting Commander of New Hope, to remain in bed for at least a week. If she behaved, she was told, she might be allowed to do some paperwork after the week was up.

Well-rested after sleeping most of the day, Kel was understandably bored to be sitting in her bed with nothing to do. Owen had refused to let her handle any of the work she normally did, saying she needed complete rest. Besides, he had said with a smile, he never got to be in charge when she was well.

Denied her paperwork, and with no library to speak of to find something to pass the time, Kel turned to the journal she had hidden under her mattress just the night before. Perhaps the time off would not be a bad thing.


End file.
